LONDON — Corruption in Afghanistan is so entrenched that Afghans had to pay bribes worth nearly a quarter of the country's GDP last year, a United Nations report said Tuesday.

Afghans paid $2.5 billion (euro1.7 billion) to bribe public officials over the past 12 months, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report on corruption in the country.

"Drugs and bribes are the two largest income-generators in Afghanistan," the program's executive director, Antonio Maria Costa, said as he launched the report in London. The country's opium trade last year was worth an estimated $2.8 billion.

Costa said the lack of trust in public officials was prompting Afghans to look for alternative providers of security and welfare. The weakening of traditional justice administered by village elders could mean that more people will be drawn to violent forms of retribution such as Sharia religious law, he said.

The U.N. report said one person in two had to pay at least one kickback to a public official – whether a policeman, politician, judge or government official – between 2008 and 2009. Many paid to cut through red tape or to get help with poor service.

More than half the time, the request was an explicit demand for cash. The average bribe cost $160 – in a country where the GDP per capita was just $425 per year, the report said. - complete article link

The plan is working as Western style corporacy and crony capitalism are taking root in Afghanistan. The drug business is flourishing and consumers are benefiting as cheap heroin floods our streets and military bases.

One good thing for the Afghans, the common man can afford to bribe the police and government. In our system, only the banks and international corporations can afford to buy the system.

One bad thing for the Afghans, they are getting killed. Our corporacy spares the common man by hiring mercenaries to wage a profitable war.

At present, there are 104,000 Department of Defense contractors in Afghanistan. According to a report this week from the Congressional Research Service, as a result of the coming surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, there may be up to 56,000 additional contractors deployed.

...the current total US force in Afghanistan is approximately 189,000 personnel (68,000 US troops and 121,000 contractors). And remember, that’s right now. A year from now, we will likely see more than 220,000 US-funded personnel on the ground in Afghanistan. - complete article link

It's so reminiscent of latter-day South Vietnam, isn't it? The corruption, the bribes, the warlords, the CIA-sponsored heroin-running. And the U.S.-stooge government which controls nothing but the capital and few military garrisons.

What also rhymes with South Vietnam -- circa 1975 -- is the bold, broad-daylight guerrilla attack which took place in central Kabul a couple of days ago. By the time the Vietcong could enter Saigon at will, it wasn't long until the 'last helicopter out' lifted off from the U.S. embassy. And then the city wasn't Saigon no more -- it became Ho Chi Minh City, in honour of the victorious general who whipped Robert McNamara's whiz-kid technocrats and the mass-murdering Secretary of State, the mad bomber Henry Kissinger.

If history continues to rhyme, after the NATO clown posse has been dispatched with tails between their legs, Kabul will be no more. Welcome to Osama City, named in honour of the cavedweller who bankrupted the West. 'Born and bred in the briar patch,' as Brer Rabbit used to say. Guess they don't teach that old folk tale in government skools no more.